Do dropped kerbs increase house price?

General_Grant

powerful_Rogue said:

AnotherJoe said:

SpiderLegs said:

Oh man I would really love to get a job as council’s enforcement officer for these morons.

Just imagine the joy of seeing those bollards being cemented into place and the look of desperate anguish on the homeowner as they spend hours trying to manoeuvre their Qashqai through a gap that whichever way they go, is just too small to fit through.

Wasnt' there one where they put the bollards there whilst teh car was parked  and effectively blocked the car in?

Yup, this one.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315980/Council-workers-block-family-s-driveway-BOLLARDS-cars-parked-it.html

And clearly a dropped kerb which they had to negotiate (between posts or around and not using the dropped park of the kerb).

SallyDucati

General_Grant said:

powerful_Rogue said:

AnotherJoe said:

SpiderLegs said:

Oh man I would really love to get a job as council’s enforcement officer for these morons.

Just imagine the joy of seeing those bollards being cemented into place and the look of desperate anguish on the homeowner as they spend hours trying to manoeuvre their Qashqai through a gap that whichever way they go, is just too small to fit through.

Wasnt' there one where they put the bollards there whilst teh car was parked  and effectively blocked the car in?

Yup, this one.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315980/Council-workers-block-family-s-driveway-BOLLARDS-cars-parked-it.html

And clearly a dropped kerb which they had to negotiate (between posts or around and not using the dropped park of the kerb).

I suspect that is for a pedestrian crossing (with the knobbly flags and the house being on a corner) not technically a dropped kerb for getting a car out of a driveway.

General_Grant

AnotherJoe said:

General_Grant said:

My house and all others in the close were built with integral garages.  Some have converted the garages to other rooms and simply park on the forecourt.  Some houses have dropped kerbs and others do not.

I have to drive over the kerb (not dropped but not particularly high) in order to access my garage.  I shall cough up for a dropped kerb if the LA give me notice to pay them for the privilege but until then I do not believe my little car is causing damage.  It seems to be that given the houses all had garages originally the developer should have dealt with the dropped kerb requirement.

have you ever had someone block you in or is that not likely where you are?

Never.  There are a couple of LA-marked areas for residents/guests parking (each for at least 4 cars and requiring minimum payment on weekdays).  I don't recall seeing all the space being used - and traffic wardens (or whatever they are called these days) patrol at least weekly.

NaughtiusMaximus

powerful_Rogue said:

AnotherJoe said:

SpiderLegs said:

Oh man I would really love to get a job as council’s enforcement officer for these morons.

Just imagine the joy of seeing those bollards being cemented into place and the look of desperate anguish on the homeowner as they spend hours trying to manoeuvre their Qashqai through a gap that whichever way they go, is just too small to fit through.

Wasnt' there one where they put the bollards there whilst teh car was parked  and effectively blocked the car in?

Yup, this one.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3315980/Council-workers-block-family-s-driveway-BOLLARDS-cars-parked-it.html

It's THAT pose again 


A Barry car is optional but does add to the effect.

justworriedabit

eddddy said:

I guess it depends on things like is how easy it is to park elsewhere, and how much better or worse the property looks with the garden used for parking etc.

I once owned a house in a Victorian terrace where all the houses had nice uniform front lawns and fences, and on-street parking wasn't too difficult.

Then one or two houses paved over their front gardens for parking, and spoilt the terrace effect. I suspect they devalued their houses, and possibly other houses in the terrace as well.

Further down the road, almost everyone had paved over their gardens in different styles and using different materials, with cars parked in haphazard ways in each garden - and it looked a mess. Again, I'm pretty sure the houses were devalued as a result.


But obviously the situation may be different, or example, in a city/town centre where parking is very difficult.

Highlighted bit was exactly what i was thinking off.

In london, central london/fullham/etc surrounding areas the majority dont have osp - they are used to it but once you've tasted OSP, then people will only step backwards to on road parking if they have no choice, generally.


We bought an almost new Audi when Germany cars were not ten a panny, people first admired our car and then said "i would not buy something like that and park it on the road." We'd never had a drive so were ok with it and the fact a lot less traffic around. For quiet a few yers we've had a drive and often we extend it to inc 3 cars at least - ideally we'd want grass and a tree to the front as well but with this house, eot house not feasilbe.

Slinky

TBagpuss said:

GaleSF63 said:

I'd have thought that even if it made no difference to house value it's worth £2000 to yourself for the convenience and peace of mind of having your own legal parking spaces, and knowing no-one else will be in them and no-one blocking your front. 

Not to mention the peace of mind of knowing that the council isn't going to start enforcing the rules!

I's also get it sorted now rather than waiting, as the council's rules about whether they will grant permission may change.

When I was last house hunting, I viewed one property which didn't have a dropped kerb or off-road parking. Nearly all of the other houses in the street did (pretty much all of them had cars parked on the front, about half had dropped kerbs) 

I made some enquiries and found that the council was unlikely to grant permission for a dropped kerb where there wasn't one already.
I didn't by the house. 

About 6 months later the council started enforcing the rules and about a year after that they added double yellow lines along one side of the road, so the people who'd decided not to bother with a proper dropped kerb ended up not being able to park on their front gardens and with virtually no on-street parking. 

I'd agree with this, if you can get dropped kerb go for it now.  We have a dropped kerb and thought about asking for it to be made about 18 inches wider. I investigated and found that our local council wouldn't approve it as we were within 5 meters of the neighbour's dropped kerb. The council want to retain a certain amount of on-street parking space.

You may look at the neighbours and think you will get permission because they got permission, but that may not necessarily be the case. It may be if you get permission, you stop another neighbour getting permission at a later date.

GaleSF63

Mickey666 said:

ProDave said:

I would not consider a house without off road parking, so yet it will increase demand which must increase value or at least make it easier to sell.

Having never lived anywhere with off-road parking, nor would I.

I have plenty of friends who do and I cant understand how they can put up with arriving home and not knowing where they would be able to park.  One friend once remarked that if he could park within a 5 min walk of his house then it was a good day!

I have friends who have lived like this for 30 years, parking their car in a nearby street and not the same street all the time. Once their car "disappeared", and was reported to the police as stolen, but she had simply forgotten where it was parked.                                          

Dadto3Boys

Get the Kerb dropped, but don't use council to do it.
We got the permission from council and quoted approx. £1800, then a council approved company did it for £750. Although had to pay the council an additional £100 for the privilege of using own contractor.

thegentleway

Dadto3Boys said:

Get the Kerb dropped, but don't use council to do it.
We got the permission from council and quoted approx. £1800, then a council approved company did it for £750. Although had to pay the council an additional £100 for the privilege of using own contractor.

sounds cheap! Council quoted £2,304 and I've got an approved company quoting £1,680 (+£100 council bribe). There are 5 kerbs, is this a decent price or should I shop around?

TBagpuss

thegentleway said:

Dadto3Boys said:

Get the Kerb dropped, but don't use council to do it.
We got the permission from council and quoted approx. £1800, then a council approved company did it for £750. Although had to pay the council an additional £100 for the privilege of using own contractor.

sounds cheap! Council quoted £2,304 and I've got an approved company quoting £1,680 (+£100 council bribe). There are 5 kerbs, is this a decent price or should I shop around?

I think it depends.

My understanding is that pavements aren't made to the same standards of roads, and that cars regularly driving over the pavement can cause damage to the pipework / channels for other utilities underneath,  so part of getting the dropped kerb is upgrading where necessary to avoid damage to any drains,  pipes etc which run under the pavement - I would imagine that costs may vary depending on how much of that sort of thing is needed, and to where you are - I would expect regional variations as with many types of tradespeople.